Dedicated to the original Sentakus within my life.
May the Kage never penetrate their souls.
May the Kage never penetrate their souls.
Prologue
It is in these dark times that I question the existence of the humans here on Baransu. Every morning the sun shines, and every night the moon rises. A never ending cycle carried out through the creatures that live here. Yet, our human kingdom will become extinct if we continue to fight among ourselves, as we have been. No peace will come from the upcoming events. For until my people learn to help one another no peace will be achieved. I feel as if I have failed my kingdom, my people, my family.
~Queen Valera of Baransu
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Long ago, when the Earth was new, there was another world parallel. Some call humans an antidote to the evil in the world, others a virus that must be extinguished. I say that we are both, as all creatures are. There are many creatures of modern intelligence. Humans, dragons, griffins, and mer-people are just the few here in Baransu.
“Prince Adam!” My name; my mother's voice. She is the queen of Baransu. I answered to my mother's call through the only way I knew, through my mind. For whatever reason I never gained a physical voice, but I have always been able to speak through my thoughts.
Yes, Mother?
“Your father and I need you down in the meeting room darling,” My mother stood in the doorway in a navy blue silk dress, her brunette hair curled to the left side. In the daylight her hair is brown, but at the sight of the moon her hair bleaches itself to the palest shade of blond. It is a trait that runs in her family line, but the trait skipped my sister's and my genes. As if my little sister could tell I had been thinking of her she ran out and to huddle herself around our mother's waist. Her hair was the palest blond and her eyes were the deepest purple to be found in all the land. I looked at the two with a small smile.
I'll be down as soon as possible, Mother. My mother nodded and headed out, my sister at her toes.
The meeting room is gorgeous, or at least everyone seems to say so. It holds swords and long passed down family heirlooms. Some came from an older world of Baransu, and others were small trinkets my family's children had been born to. Each child is born to an object and a familiar. A familiar is an creature that imprints to our souls, and is always there for us. They are both a protector and friend. Objects are items that are in the right place at the right time of our birth. Some connect us to the past, and others are brand new. My sister has an odd object; a skull ring with a retractable knife. Being a princess she would never have a need for it. A prophetess, a Star-Seeker, said the object holds great importance, but also sees no need for it in this life. That is why my sister has never seen her object. Having more than one life is a non-human attribute, a taboo.
“Adam, we need you for something important,” My father, King Lor, has the voice of authority. A natural-born leader. “Our council has been speaking for awhile now, and it has been decided that we must leave Baransu. The Star-Seekers have found a planet that can hold us many eons away. The prophetess has also told us that I must stay behind to send my people to safety. They will need a king to lead them.”
Me? Father, I am not ready for such responsibility. It was true, I would never be ready for that responsibility. My father was king, a leader, an icon of strength. I was only fifteen, barely an infant compared to my father. Humans can live for over 500 years here in Baransu. So, there was no way I had gained my father's knowledge. Yet, I give my nod of respect and wait for him to respond. He doesn't and that means the beginning orders were already in motion. When do we leave?
My mother answers this time, “An ship has been built by a family in the south. Your father will use the powers of the sea to send you on a 40 day journey to a place we have named Terra.”
What about Aura, and Mother?
I would be losing my father, but I did not want to lose my mother and sister as well. They will be coming right?
My mother and father looked to each other with sadness and nod, "Aura will be going with you." That would be all I would need. My sister and I would go, but my parents would not. "Lady Alexandra and Sir Melvin will accompany you for as long as they are able," King Lor said sternly. Sir Melvin is the head knight, and Lady Alexandra is our governess. My parents hand me my black coat and Aura's silver skull ring. They have not told me the full truth. We are only given these objects after our closest relatives have passed on. My parents... will never be seen again.
They wear their own objects, and I wonder why I had not noticed before. King Lor wears a silver chain around his neck and my mother wears a necklace with a rose pendant on the end. They will use their objects to strengthen their powers. Queen Valera of Fire, and King Lor of the Sea. Without another word I shed a tear and hurry towards my living courtiers.
A friend awaits me outside my window. The deep purple eye looms in my window, before poking a green scaled a head into my room. His name is Zu, a dragon... and my familiar.
I have never needed you more than I do now. My familiar. As far as I can tell I am the only one who can speak with creatures of non-human descent. Zu rested his head on my shoulder. He already knows of the plan. Will I ever see you again? My dragon lowers his head and sheds a tear. I felt a sudden burst of anger... hate. The latter being a tabooed emotion. Why must my parents do this to us... to me? They are such fools!
What they do is to protect you, and your sister. As well, as the rest of your kingdom. So, there is something my parents aren't saying. Something dangerous. The other intelligent beings are close to completing their goal to resurect the creatures of darkness.
No.
The Kages will return.
It had taken every intelligent creature to lock away the Kages in the old world of Baransu. Yet, only one power of darkness could reawaken them. My parents were sacrificing themselves. There was nothing I could do. The choices were made and actions had already been taken. I was just a pawn in a game of chess.
The night we left came sooner than I had hoped. My sister held Lady Alexandra's hand with Sir Melvin beside me, his butterfly earring in his left ear.. Sir Melvin would be staying with my family to fight of the Kages that would be coming our way. One of the people with us was a girl named Eve. My parents wished for me to keep a close eye on her, for the Star-Seekers warned them of something. Something they wished not to tell me. The girl had a rare disorder, schizophrenia, but as long as she was kept in close eyes all would be well. I had told them she should just stay, but they had refused to tell me why she couldn't. I already knew. Eve would die if she stayed in Baransu. Just like everyone else who would be staying. How stupid could they be to think I did not know?
“Adam take this apple tree with you as a reminder to all of our people of their home. Promise me to never let anyone eat from it." My father told me as I headed onto the wooden ship.
Why father?
My father sighed, "This fruit comes from this land. It is not of the world you will be entering, and if someone eats from it... the person will die." I nodded grabbing the sapling from him and watched as he turned away back towards our castle home.
As I stood on the head ship I saw four silhouettes near the highest edge of the castle. My mother, father, governess, and the head knight stood there, a glimmering shade of color surrounding the,. Suddenly, water rushed into the sky from my father's hands. It rotated in a sphere of liquid hundreds of feet above the ground, and fire bursted from the castle surrounding our ship in the fire. The water sphere burst and sprayed into a soft patter of rain around us. Lady Alexandra covers the boat with her a seal of green, giving us nature's blessing. A loud bang sounded and light flashed as Sir Melvin lifted his hand, and water poured down on our heads.
Then my worst nightmare as my best friend Zu flew up into the sky. A sacrifice of an intelligent creature.
Zu, No!
I'm sorry, Adam. I will forever remember you. My hands shook and a tear rolled down my cheek Aura's face twisted with worry and slowly she lifted her arm, her palm out. The wind picked up and spund the ship in circles. I raised my hand to try and slow down the boat's spinning with my power's of ice. No, no, no.
“No!”
My voice rang out for the first time in my life as my sister marked her fate in destiny. Zu burst into pieces of blood and froze in mid air. No. I was always the key. Blood and ice. My sister and I were used to save the people. My best friend, dead, because of me.
That was the last I saw as I fell back into a deep sleep. I awoke twenty days into the voyage surrounded by darkness. We were on a never ending sea. For forty days and nights we traveled through the sea created by my father's power. Finally the water evaporated to show us a world of greenery and mystery.
I could hear the cheers from all over the ark as people filed off with their stuff into the paradise in front of them. To me this place is a curse. A reminder that we will never return home.
As time went on we built a city of basic earth resources. Grass, clay, water. Whatever we could find. This place is almost fully composed of dirt and grass. The other humans have come to call this place Earth instead of Terra, and something about that sounds homier. Someone even figured out a way to start a fire by using techniques of using charcoal like the dragons from back home. I feel that our language is losing it's meaning. A group of people decided they wanted to build a castle to reach the sky, but out of an unknowable case all of them fell while building it. I had to make them forget everything just so the brain damage wouldn't kill them. Now they all babble in strange languages. A few have manged to gain enough memory to teach others how to speak their new language. I guess new ideas can't hurt us. The unfinished castle has come to be called Bablonia.
The most revered place of our new home is an orchard on the far side of the ruined castle. In the middle of it is the apple tree we have kept growing for the last few years. We have also learned that years go by much faster in this world and people grow older at a quicker pace. We age at a faster rate, and the time amounted before our life-span is but only decades. As the rate of life is much shorter it was voted that Eve would become my queen and I, Adam, will remain as king. My sister was not very fond of that idea, especially because I never wanted to rule to begin with, and I had no wish to stay with Eve as my partner. Yet, some part of me found had to take Eve under my wing. It had been my mother's and father's final wish, and over time I grew to love her.
One night I went out to hide beneath my black coat and talk to myself beside the apple tree. The sight I saw was my queen crying beside the grown sapling. Her eyes were clouded over and tears poured out. “What is it love?” I held her shoulders with my hands.
“The snake... the snake...” I turned my eyes around to see no snake. Another case of her schizophrenia. I looked to her hands to see my worst nightmare. An apple. Death. That had been the penalty for eating of the apple tree. Which meant one thing. If I wished to save Eve, I would need to eat the rest of the apple and bury the core. Eve protested as I grabbed the apple. “No! Apple bad! Apple bad!” I ignored her words and took a bite of the red fruit.
The pain that hit me, I could not have imagined. My vision clouded over as I saw Zu, Melvin, Alexandra, Mother, Father, Aura, and me all in The Circle of Transportation. I was back in Baransu, home, but with a bird's eye-view of the past event. Suddenly, the ark left with us on it and my family lied on the balcony of the castle. Zu lying in pieces on the grass. My heart and hand reached for him, but my body did not follow my lead.
Roars of every animal sounded from the forest, and my body moved to view the spectacle. They were not rushing at the castle though to start a war. No, they were running away. It is then that I saw the black tendrils float out of the forest. The Kages. My parents used what strength they possibly could have left to tear the castle away from every land mass around them. My head watched as I saw my family disintegrate into ash on the balcony. The castle was left alone on a barren island. The lands floated away in opposite directions, only barely visible by the outline of the mountain range that used to connect them. Black tendrils swim in the air, their horrid screams filled the atmosphere.
The vision changes to seven silhouettes. Colors surround the humanoid shape; a different color for each of the elemental powers belonging to Baransu. The silhouettes shift to an object. A silver finger ring, a black coat, a blue earring, a rose necklace, a silver chain, a blue crystal, and brown beads in the shapes of scales. Zu. The silhouettes return wearing the objects. No, into people that shift in size and shape over and over again. Different people, but the same objects. I know what the apple created with my bite. A taboo.